Chapter 13 Jerusalem of Heaven and Jerusalem of Earth

In the Bible, while there is Jerusalem of earth, there is also Jerusalem of heaven.

【Gal 4:22-26】 「For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and the other by the free woman. His son by the slave woman was born in the ordinary way; but his son by the free woman was born as the result of a promise. These things may be taken figuratively, for the women represent two covenants. One covenant is from Mount Sinai and bears children who are to be slaves: This is Hagar. Now Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present city of Jerusalem, because she is in slavery with her children. But the Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother.」Those who are in the new covenant worship God in Jerusalem of heaven. As it is written;

【Heb 12:22】 「But you have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God.」

【Eph 2:5-6】 「made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions– And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,」

【Col 1:13-14】 「For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.」

In the above verses, ‘Jerusalem of heaven’, ‘the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus’, and ‘the kingdom of the Son’ are the various expressions of the place where the saints stay spiritually. The apostle John saw in revelation and wrote;

【Rev 14:1】 「Then I looked, and there before me was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads.」

Mount Zion in the above verse designates that of heaven. And Zechariah, the prophet of the Old Testament, wrote about the Jerusalem of the new covenant as follows;

【Zec 14:8】 「On that day living water will flow out from Jerusalem, half to the eastern sea and half to the western sea, in summer and in winter.」Its mated verse is found in the book of Revelation.

【Rev 22:1-2】 「Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city.」

Jerusalem which was prophesied in the book of Zechariah also designates Jerusalem of heaven. Jerusalem is the place where the Lord dwells, so the water of life flowing from the Jerusalem means the words of the Lord. As it is written;

【Rev 21:22】 「I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.」

If you study the book of Zechariah connected with Revelation and John, you can find what the water of life is in the teaching of Jesus.

【John 4:14】 「but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”」

【John 6:53-54】 「Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.」

Then, how can we eat the body of Jesus and drink His blood? Jesus said at the last Supper of the Passover;

【Luke 22:7-20】 「Then came the day of Unleavened Bread on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and make preparations for us to eat the Passover.” …… And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.」

Putting all the above verses together, we can realize the meaning of the prophecy of Zechariah, “On that day living water will flow out from Jerusalem, half to the eastern sea and half to the western sea, in summer and in winter.”(Zech. 14:8) Only the saints who have received the new covenant in the heavenly Jerusalem, will be able to drink the water of life and eat the bread and wine of life. And they will become one spirit with Jesus and go to the eternal kingdom.